Confiscate the candy, destroy the monster

03Nov

I’m very tempted to break my personal policy of not posting direct, recognizable pictures of the babies. Why? Because I took a priceless photo of Miss Ella Saturday night. She went as Mickey Mouse for Halloween. No, not Minnie. Miss Ella has a love/hate relationship with Minne. She wishes she were Minnie; she’ll wear Minnie outfits. But she sees Minnie as the one thing coming between her and her man, Mickey. If Mickey Mouse had a lunatic stalker, it would be 2 year old Miss Ella.

Miss Ella and her man (February 2009)

So Miss Ella was Mickey Mouse for Halloween. This was the first year she’s really caught the gist of trick-or-treating, and she happily walked for hours Saturday night collecting bucketfuls of the only thing she may like as much as Mickey: candy. In fact, if memory serves, “cany” (candy) was one of Miss Ella’s first words– somewhere close behind “Da-y” (Daddy) and “mouse.”

After she had made her rounds, she sat on the couch and commenced the Great Candy Binge. Before we could intervene, she had eaten a good fourth of her stash. We found this little gem on the floor.

No time to unwrap. Must consume it. Now.

By the time her brothers finished their extended trick-or-treat session, Miss Ella was sacked out on the couch, laying upside down in a pile of candy wrappers with blank stare. I had to take a picture, and maybe some day I’ll post it.

Here’s the amazing thing: That night, Meadow covertly gathered up the rest of Miss Ella’s candy and hid it away. Yet Miss Ella continues to bring us suckers, Tootsie Rolls, and mini Snickers bars with the same demand delivered in almost zombie fashion:

“Op’nut” (Open it).

We were certain that by now even her secret stashes must be depleted. Nope. There’s apparently still plenty of candy to go around. My theory? She’s raiding Coulter’s candy bucket when he’s not looking. It can’t be Bridger’s– his is already gone. And Weston carefully inventories his candy.

So we’ll be confiscating Coulter’s candy today and rationing it to him personally. It’s the only way to destroy this monster.